WOMEN’S PAGE

WOMENS PAGE STATEMENTS MADE during the General Election campaign suggest that women's abortion rights could soon come under attack. One in three women in Britain has an abortion. Think about how many women you know - family, friends, workmates. One third of them will at some point terminate a pregnancy. Every one has her reason. For many, it is a difficult choice. But it is her choice. The film 'Vera Drake' reminded us what happened before 1967, when abortion was still illegal. Women went to backstreet abortionists, and some were injured or died. In our society, there will always be women facing a crisis pregnancy who choose abortion. The choice that society faces is not between abortions and no abortions - it is between illegal, unsafe abortions, safe, legal ones. Before 1967, rich women could usually buy their way around the law and pay a doctor to carry out a termination. It was working-class women who suffered in the backstreets. This is why the trade-union movement supports women's right to choose free, legal abortion. Leaders of several religions - including a Catholic archbishop, the Chief Rabbi, and a representative of the Muslim Council of Britain - have recently called for restrictions on women's abortion rights. These religious authorities want to impose their views not just on their own congregations, but on all women. And despite the low level of religious observance in this country, politicians of all shades seem willing to help them. This is not right or democratic. As a long-standing pro- choice slogan says, "Not the church, not the state - women must decide our fate". We may well see an attempt in Parliament to cut the time limit for legal abortion from the current 24 weeks to 20 weeks. Relatively few abortions are carried out between 20 and 24 weeks, but there are several good reasons why a woman might leave it this late: • She may have been obstructed by an anti-abortion doctor. • Her circumstances might have changed - her partner might have left her, or may have started to beat or abuse her (more common in pregnancy than you might think). • A young woman might have been afraid to come forward earlier. • An older woman may have mistaken the signs of pregnancy for the menopause. • Serious foetal disability may have been discovered by tests that can only be carried out after a certain time. The pretext for cutting time limits is usually that medical advances have made it possible for foetuses to survive outside the womb at an earlier stage. These advances are welcome, and should be used to help premature babies, to spare parents the heartbreak of losing a baby they love and want - not to force women to bear children they do not want. The best ways to reduce the number of late abortions is to reduce unwanted pregnancy and to improve access to earlier abortions. This could be achieved by better sex education, free effective contraception and the removal of the need for two doctors' permission to have an abortion. Ironically, the religious authorities that attack abortion rights usually also oppose these measures. We have to reject their moralising and defend women's right to control our own bodies. may 2005 :: RMTnews 27 THE RIGHT TO CHOOSE RMT member Janine Booth looks at the threat to abortion rights following the general election